Fullscreen HTML5Med Res (??MB)HTML4

The Fox Report Barry Fox’s technology column Networking not working? I have been fighting computers since the early days of Sinclair deadhand-feel keyboards, the ahead-ofits-time Tandy 100 warhorse laptop, not-quite-DOS Apricots, IBM Wintels and endless versions of Windows. One common thread of misery has been the difficulty of networking devices, first with coaxial cable and then on into the Ethernet (Cat5 etc) and Wi-Fi world. Interestingly, the new MoCA, Multimedia over Coaxial Alliance, uses old TV coax cabling as a way to carry Ethernet signals. Build a network and it will ‘find’ devices but then ‘lose’ them again for no logical or discernible reason. New PCs may come with Network Settings set by default to block networking, eg, with Network Discovery off. Is all this to create paid work for IT support engineers? The Internet is awash with network fix-it advice, often garbled. Recently, I found a tutorial on YouTube that is quite helpful: https://youtu.be/N-R44Clys9A From this, a mish-mash of other posts and a lot of personal trial and error, I’ve put together a simple-as-possible guide: Left-click to open File Explorer (the yellow square icon in the horizontal taskbar that runs along the bottom of a Windows screen). Right-click on the blue icon This PC in the vertical panel that runs down the left side of the screen. Left-click Properties (the Spanner icon). Note: you may need to click Show More Options to find it. This takes you to System – About. Left-click Rename this PC to give the PC a friendly name that is easy to recognise when networked. Note: you need to use hyphens rather than spaces. Then reboot the PC. Now (again) left-click to Open File Explorer. Right-click on This PC and left-click Properties. This takes you (again) to System – About, with the computer name now changed to your more friendly choice. You should see a group of related links, including the option to change the workgroup name. But – thanks a lot, Microsoft – you may not see it. If not, try a refresh or reboot, or use the search tool (magnifying glass in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen) to search for Change Workgroup Name, then Open. Here, you can add a friendly description of the PC. You can also change the name of your network, but it’s easier just Practical Electronics | March | 2026 to leave it at the default WORKGROUP. Click OK. Now use the taskbar search tool to find and open the Control Panel. Click on Network and Internet, then Network and Sharing Centre. Now click on Change Advanced Sharing Settings (in the leftside vertical column). In the Private Networks section, set all settings on. In the Public Networks section, set all settings off. In the All Networks sections, leave Sharing off. To keep things simple, for the time being at least, set Password Protected off. Close the page and now right-click on any blank part of the Windows desktop and create a new folder, perhaps named “Share”. Right-click on this new folder, choose Properties and then Sharing. Click on the Share box, then on the down arrow and select Everyone. Click Add. Click on the down arrow next to Everyone and select Read/Write, click Share (at the bottom), then Done and Close. Next, right-click on the same folder and go again to Properties/Sharing and click on Advanced Sharing. Click on Share This Folder, then click on Permission and Allow Full Control for Everyone. So everything in this folder is now shared with everyone with full permissions on a private network. Phew! Now click OK to close it and repeat the whole tedious process with any other computer you want on the network – with appropriate variations in naming, of course. Next, on each computer, left-click to open File Explorer in the taskbar. Look for, and left-click on, the blue icon Network in the vertical column down the left side of the screen. On each computer, you should see the other computer. But it may need a refresh (right-click on empty desktop space, and perhaps also click Show Options) or reboot. If no joy (thanks again, Microsoft), try this trick. Type run in the taskbar search box and, in the Open box, type “\\My-Laptop” or whatever name you have given the other computer. Click OK and you should now, at last, see the files on the other computer. If you have forgotten the name of a computer, you can find it on that computer by typing “settings” into the taskbar search box, then open it, and the Settings home page will show the computer basics, including its name. This insanely complicated process should give you a network of computers that share the folders you created and shared. You can now use the same basic steps and tricks to make other folders and files shareable; and perhaps add password protection. If you hit inexplicable roadblocks, the culprit might be a firewall or anti-virus software silently blocking the connection. To check, turn any such protection off for a couple of minutes and see if that fixes the problem. In a sensible world, your firewall and/ or anti-virus would have a big red button marked “Press here to kill me for a test; press again to revive me”. More likely, you will have to dig into the software settings of whatever software your PC uses. Another way to help networked computers ‘find’ each other is to create desktop shortcuts to networked content. Right-click on empty desktop space and click New → Shortcut, then type “\\My-Laptop” (or whatever name you used), then Next/Finish. This creates a shortcut on the desktop that leads straight to the networked computer. Tip: Whatever the hazy, largely unwritten rules of networking may say, I have found it easier not to mix Ethernet and Wi-Fi connections. If your laptop does not have an Ethernet socket, spend a tenner on a USB Ethernet adaptor. If nothing else, it removes one of the many variables in the ridiculous game Microsoft has crafted. Internet posts suggest changing the Service settings. Try to avoid this, because you may create new faults. But if you feel desperate and/or brave, try these settings (making a note of anything you change so that it is easy to change back). To do this, type services in the taskbar search. Open it and set the following entries to Automatic: • DNS Client • Function Discovery Provider Host • Function Discovery Resource Publication • Server • SSDP Discovery • TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper • UPnP Device Host • Workstation If and when I recover my mental strength and good humour, I may tackle the mysteries of networking Windows computers with Mac and Android dePE vices next. 11